


In the Game

by DualWieldingCousland (DualWieldingMama)



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-24
Updated: 2017-03-30
Packaged: 2018-09-26 14:29:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9904436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DualWieldingMama/pseuds/DualWieldingCousland
Summary: Cullen and his friends are a bunch of nerds.  Does this include Regan Trevelyan?  Maybe.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is in the same universe as the Starting Over series with Regan and Alistair, but it involves Cullen and Regan Trevelyan, more than a year before Alistair and Regan Cousland meet. I just kind of wanted to do something a little different with this pair, and thought this could be fun.

“You must really like this one.”  Dorian pulled out a small stack of expensive-looking plates and carried them to the table.  “If you’re inviting her over for our weekly game.”  In the years that he’d known the man, he’d never once invited anyone he’d gone out with to join them.  He’d been pleasantly surprised when it was first brought up, though the subsequent planning had been slightly headache-inducing. 

Cullen looked over at his friend and shrugged, a sheepish smile on his face.  “I do.”  He began setting up the map he’d prepared for the start of the evening as well as the things he would need to run the game.  Several rolled up maps were placed next to his chair, just in case.  He pulled out the figures for the characters he, and the rest of the group were using, as well as the figure she’d picked out after she’d made the request to join them and done the basics to create her character.  “You don’t _have_ to pull out your company plates, you know.”

“Oh, let him have his fun.”  Bull’s voice was muffled by whatever he was doing in the kitchen.  “You know he’s been itching for a dinner party.”  There were a few clanks, followed by a muttered curse in qunlat before he spoke again.  “Sera said she’d be running a little behind; said there was something _special_ she was picking up.”  He came out of the kitchen carrying a platter of meat and cheese in one hand and a tray laden with brownies and cookies in the other.  “When should we expect your friend?”

“I think we can call her his girlfriend at this point, amatus.”  In the time it had taken his partner to bring the food over to the buffet table against the wall, Dorian had set out the plates and managed to produce glasses and silverware for each setting.  “And of _course_ I need to use the _company_ plates.  We are having real _company_.  We must make a good impression; even as we are protecting her fragile, low-level … what is she playing, anyway?”

Cullen felt his cheeks warm slightly.  They’d never actually discussed their … exclusivity, though as far as he knew, neither had gone out with anyone other than each other.  “She … ah, she should be here in ….”  He checked the last text from her.  “… in about five minutes.”  He checked over the setup once more, glad that he’d had most of his maps laminated long ago.  Should anything spill, his hard work would be protected.  “She settled on a dual-wield rogue.  I let her roll to settle on her starting level while setting up and she’s not starting as low as she _could_ – she’s starting at level five.”

“So she’s two below Cassandra’s.”  Bull pulled out four folders from a drawer in the buffet and set them down next to his plate.  “Has she _ever_ played before?”  When the blond man shook his head, he grinned.  “Well, I guess this is a good way to find out how serious she is.”

Before Cullen could ask what he meant, Dorian was sailing past him to answer a knock at the door. 

“You must be Miss Trevelyan, yes?”

Cullen could hear a muffled reply, though he couldn’t make out what was being said.  He took a step away from the table, toward the door.

“Oh, you brought fruit!”  Dorian stepped back to let the new arrival through the door.  “And you found another member of the party.  Good for you.” 

Regan glanced down at the platter of strawberries, apple slices and grapes in her hands and tried not to blush under his gaze.  She’d debated about bringing something for days before settling on something easy.  “My mother drilled it into me; you don’t visit someone empty-handed.”  Her voice was soft, almost embarrassed.  She followed his directions toward the buffet while the second arrival made her way in as well. 

“Cassandra, so glad you could make it this week.  We’ve missed your smiling face.”  Dorian waited until she made it through the door and into the apartment before closing the door.  “I’m surprised there aren’t more speculations as to your extracurricular activities with Cullen since you both keep requesting the same evening off.”

Cassandra narrowed her eyes and just shook her head as she walked to the table.  “I was lucky to get the weekend off.  I am taking a short trip after we finish tonight.  I do not know how exactly Cullen manages to schedule his day off so easily.”  She quietly made a couple small sandwiches, scooping a little fruit onto her plate as well before taking a seat. 

“I’m glad you made it.”  Cullen stepped up to Regan and brushed a soft peck of a kiss on her lips.  He could hear his heart in his ears.  Even after months of dating, his insides still fluttered and his heart still raced just being near her.  It had the potential to make running tonight’s game difficult, but he wouldn’t trade it for anything.  He tried to ignore the eyes of the others, especially Dorian, when her arms slipped around his waist and she kissed him back.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”  She grinned at him as she pulled back, then looked over her shoulder at the table.  “So … where should I sit?”

Dorian swooped in again and guided her to the seat nearest Cullen’s set up.  “You’ll sit here.”  He pulled out her chair, smirking at the frown crossing his friend’s face.  “As soon as Sera arrives we can –“

The door swung open, effectively cutting off Dorian’s speech.  “Let’s get this thing started.  I’ve brought the ale!”

“Kaffas.  How can any of you drink that swill?”  Dorian practically turned up his nose as he took the case of ale from the newest arrival and carried it into the kitchen.

“Relax.  I brought you an’ the new girl something _special_.”  Sera pulled a large bottle of wine from the bag slung over her shoulder with a grin.  “Thought you’d want to impress the fresh meat with somethin’ befittin’ your … her … station.”

“Really; you all don’t need to do anything special for me.”  Regan felt her cheeks grow warm at the idea of them trying to impress her.  She didn’t think of herself as any better than the rest.  “I mean, really … I’m not my parents; I’d be happy eating off paper plates and drinking water.”

Bull grinned as Cullen took his seat behind the screen that separated what he was doing from the rest of the table.  “They’re worried that this will scare you off, so Dorian’s doing his best to impress you in order to distract you, just in case.”  He flashed a teasing grin at his husband, and passed out the folders at his side to Cassandra, Sera, Dorian, and himself while Cullen handed Regan a folder of her own.  “Let’s get this game started.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Regan gets to see just what it is Cullen does during his weekly get-togethers with his friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unlike my normal writing, things in this chapter are bolded for emphasis, and the italics are reserved for events occurring in the game.

“Alright then.”  Cullen looked around the table, his eyes lingering on Regan for just a hair longer than the others.  His cheeks grew warm when she gave him a nervous smile.  “When we ended last time, the group – Cerastes, Amnon, Aratur, Breeches, and Corwin – was standing outside the mayor’s home.  They had agreed to find and rescue the mayor’s son from a group of raiders who are demanding an enormous ransom.  Supplies have been acquired and Breeches has managed to convince the mayor to hand over a note that confirms the group is working _for_ him.  Also marked on the map is the location the boy had been taken from.  Since Varric had an emergency in Kirkwall, I’ll be covering for him tonight.  Who is doing what?”

Dorian sat up just a hair straighter.  “ _Cerastes looks at the group and shrugs before starting toward the road._ ”  His voice shifted just slightly, growing somehow **more** aristocratic as he slipped into character.  _“Might as well get a move on, then; the boy isn’t going to rescue himself.”_

“ _Aratur starts to follow him, but stops next to the elf._   ‘ _Breeches …’_ ” Cassandra dropped character for a moment to shake her head.  “Maker, I **still** can’t believe you chose **that** for a name.”  She ignored the rude gesture Sera responded with and resumed the heavily Nevarran accent she had opted to use for her character.  “ _’Breeches, why was it so important that he give you that note?’_   _I try to look over her shoulder to actually read what’s written._ ”

“ _Want to be able to go where we need to, yeah?_ ”  Sera’s voice didn’t change in the slightest, giving Regan a slight pause as she tried to figure out if this was in character or not.  “ _I hold up the note, so she read it_.  **Can** she read it?”  A small slip of paper slides across the table.

Cassandra ducked her head slightly and flipped through the pages of her folder.  “I assume it is written in common?“

Cullen nodded.  “Yes, and as far as I know, all of you can read common.”  He skimmed his notes, letting Cassandra and Sera chatter back and forth about the note for a moment.  “Bull, what’s Amnon doing?”

Bull put his mug down, already half-drained of ale.  “Following Cerastes.  Not much else to do at this point, and tittering over a note isn’t high on his list of things to do.”  He flipped through the papers in his folder and scribbled a couple words in one margin.  “' _Where are we headed?'._ ”

“ _Corwin looks over the map the mayor had given them._   ‘ _It looks like the drop point is deep in the forest outside town, and the mayor said his son was taken from a stall in the market … here._ ’  _He scurries over to catch up with Cerastes and Amnon with the map, calling behind him for the other two to come on_.”  Cullen slipped a hand out from behind the game screen to give Regan’s arm a little squeeze.  He knew it had to be boring for her so far, not having her character in the game yet.  But the smile she gave him seemed to say she was enjoying herself anyway.  “So, where are you all going?  Back Into town?  The forest?  The place the mayor’s son was taken from?”

 _“'We should look for hints where they grabbed the boy.'._ ”  Bull started fingering the dice in front of him.  He enjoyed the downtime where there wasn’t a lot of dice rolling well enough, but the combat was where he really got into things.  “ _’Maybe they left something behind.’._ ”

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“You now have a scrap of paper that has a list of seven names.  Two are crossed out, three are circled, and two are left alone.  One of the circled names is that of the mayor’s son.  You do not recognize any of the other names, though you can tell three of them appear to be elven and the rest are human.”  Cullen rubbed the back of his neck.  He could feel the tips of his ears grow warm when he caught **her** smiling at him from the corner of his eye.  It had taken longer than he’d expected to get the group into the market and to find the note.  He felt bad that his girlfriend had been sitting there just listening to them all instead of actually participating.  But with any luck, that would change soon. 

“Are any of the crossed out or circled names elven?”  Dorian pulled out a small note pad and flipped to a blank page.

Cullen nodded.  “Both the crossed out names are elven.  The third elven name is **not** one of the circled names.”  He watched as Dorian made a few scribbles on his notepad.  Once his friend had stopped writing, he grinned.  “I need you all to roll a perception check.  Regan, I need you to roll a stealth check.”

“Oh-kay.”  Regan had to search the sheet in front of her to figure out what to use.  “So I roll … this guy and add … what, again?”  She held up the appropriate die, elated that she’d remembered correctly.  Cullen had given her a few lessons, and she’d studied, but it was different with everyone suddenly watching her.  She felt a little better when everyone’s gaze turned toward Sera, who obviously wasn’t happy with her roll.

“Right.”  Cullen couldn’t stop the proud grin.  “And then you add your dexterity modifier.”  He ignored the teasing smirk from both Dorian and Bull and waited for everyone to give them their rolls.

The die fell gracefully from Dorian’s hand.  He did some quick math and frowned.  “A likely unhelpful fifteen.”

A beefy hand gave Dorian’s a comforting squeeze as the die tumbled from Bull’s other hand.  “Well, twenty-three might help, at least.”

“I seriously can’t believe **this**.  The **barbarian** gets a twenty-three and what do I get?”  Sera flopped back in her seat, stunned.  “I rolled a freakin’ **one.** ”

Cassandra, who had been consistently getting the same three rolls for most of the night rested her elbows on the table and just laughed at her result.  “Unsurprisingly, sixteen.”

“Corwin rolls a ….”  Cullen groaned with frustration and shook his head.  “Well, **that’s** useful.  Corwin rolled a five.”

Regan dropped the die, checking her sheet as it landed on eighteen.  “Um, twenty-four?”

A soft chuckle could be heard behind the game screen, followed by the buzzing of Bull’s phone.  Bull skimmed the hastily texted hint, glanced over at Cullen, then Regan and grinned.  “ _I make a quick look around of all the market stalls, just trying to …. make sure we haven’t missed anything_.  ‘ _We’ve found all we can here.  Move on to the ransom point?’_.”

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“And the Legendary Wolf hits for 86 points of damage to Amnon, so halved is ... 43.”  Cullen checked the initiative order and grins.  Somehow, Regan had managed to roll well enough that no one had noticed her character sneaking along behind the group.  He’d hoped they would have spotted her during the trek from the market to the forest, but their most perceptive player had rolled nothing but ones and twos, and the one character who **had** noticed something odd in the market had rolled poorly on perception checks ever since.

“Shit.  _For the first time in a while, Amnon’s actually concerned about his health._ ”  Bull scribbled his new hit point on his sheet and frowned.  He wasn’t dead, yet, but he was closer than he wanted to be.  And he still had to wait until the top of the next round before he could do anything.  With the two other wolves still circling him still waiting to attack, he might actually need to start plotting a new character.  “Who’s up next?”

“OK, Regan; you’re up.”  Everyone turned to look at the newest player who had, thus far, remained hidden while the rest of the group was interrupted, and subsequently attacked by, a pack of dire wolves with a legendary wolf leading the pack. 

“Where is everyone again?”  Regan pursed her lips as she studied the map.  Her eyes followed Cullen’s finger as he pointed out Amnon facing off against the legendary wolf and two dire wolves and then the rest of the group facing off against the last three dire wolves about twenty feet away.  “I guess I’ll attack … whichever wolf is looking the worst out of those two.”  She rolled the dice and made her attack.

“ _So, while Cerastes, Breeches, Aratur and Corwin are busy dealing with dire wolves, and Amnon is doing his best to fend off the rest, a form darts out from the shadows and drives a pair of daggers into one of the wolves nearest to the tiefling, taking it out._ ”  Cullen pulled one of the wolf minis from the map.  “Breeches, you’re next.”

“Am I close enough to see what’s going on over there?”  Sera ran her fingers through her hair and frowned.  She wasn’t a **lot** of good in close-combat; most of her skillset was geared toward longer range, keeping out of the main scuffle and supporting the others.

Cullen checked out the map and nodded.  “Close enough, yes.  But can you afford to remove your attention from the situation in front of you to look?”

“Ugh; point.”  Sera sighed and grumbled.  “I **hate** when you have a point.”

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“Maker, how did it get to be 2 AM already?”  Cassandra pushed away from the table, fighting a yawn.  It was only luck that someone else was driving.  Regalyan had arrived half an hour previous and had been patiently waiting.  “I am **so** sorry, Galyan.  I thought we would be finished earlier ….”  She made her goodbyes and left the apartment leaning on her boyfriend tiredly.

“Never thought I’d be glad to bring in **another**  newbie,” Sera laughed, downing the last of the energy drink in front of her.  “But damn if you didn’t come in handy.”  The time wasn’t a big concern for her; Lace would be getting off work in the next half hour anyway.  “You did good.”  She waved to everyone and practically bounded out the door, eager to meet up with her girlfriend.

“I agree.”  Dorian pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to fight back a yawn.  As much as he loved his friends, he was quite ready to push everyone out the door so he and Bull could get some sleep.  “You did very well for your first time out.”  He leaned across the table slightly and smiled after glancing over at his partner.  “And thank you for keeping him alive.  Having to comfort him on the loss of his character would have made the evening much less enjoyable.”

Bull shook his head and hugged Cassandra and Sera as they left.  “Amnon would have been fine,” he assured his husband.  “A bit beat up, but nothing he couldn’t handle.”  It took no time for him to cover the distance from the door to the table, dodging Cullen as he finished cleaning up the supplies from the game.  He leaned over and wrapped his arms around Regan in a surprise hug.  “I’m glad we didn’t have to test that, though.”

For the next half hour, Regan helped clean up, after a few minutes of arguing with Dorian about whether she needed to help or not.  Cullen kept busy gathering up and **very** carefully putting away each mini, map, and sheet of paper in its proper place or folder.  Finally, everything was away and Cullen walked her to her car.  “Thank you for inviting me, Cullen.”

He wrapped his arms around her, hugging her close before stepping back and letting his hands slide down to her hips.  “I … did you enjoy …?  I hope we didn’t run on too long.”  He’d been surprised when she’d asked to come, and more so when she had asked to play.  He hadn’t intended on even talking about it  for a while longer; a lot of people were less than accepting of the past-time he and his friends enjoyed.  But she’d been curious - asking questions and honestly studying for the past week to try and understand as much as she could.  Throughout the evening, he’d looked over to check up on her frequently and she’d looked like she’d been enjoying herself.  But what if he’d only been seeing what he’d wanted to?

“It … was a **little** later than I’d expected.  She laughed softly, running fingertips along his arms.  She hadn’t expected him to walk her all the way out, but it was a welcome surprise.  As nice as Dorian’s complex was, it was still late, and dark.  “But I enjoyed the company.  That blond sitting next to me was kinda cute.”  She leaned in and brushed a soft kiss against his cheek.  “And smart.”  A kiss on the other cheek.  “And funny.”  A kiss to his nose.  She leaned in a little further and whispered in his ear, “And sexy.” 

Cullen stifled a faint groan, gripping her hips just a little tighter.  The only real downside with playing the game at Dorian’s apartment was that he was with his girlfriend in full view of anyone who might happen to look out their window.  He found his voice and slid a hand along her spine.  “I’m sure he –“

“Do you think Lace would be willing to share Sera?”  Regan interrupted with a teasing grin, fluttering her lashes all sweet and innocent-like.

Cullen barked out a laugh and pulled her close, pressing his lips to hers.  He felt her fingers grip his arms and her body shift just a little closer.  He ran his fingers through her hair.  The soft whimper he received when they broke the kiss was music to his ears.  “What was that, again?”

She knew her cheeks were pink despite the evening’s warmth.  She had to be getting home, as much as she didn’t want to right then.  Who would have thought she’d meet someone like him at a work party.  “I love you.” 

“And I love you.”  He kissed her one last time, ignoring the whistles coming from the window of Dorian & Bull’s apartment.  “I’ll call you tomorrow when I get off shift.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank Nerdy_Skirt for her help with all the D&D parts. I have never played Dungeons & Dragons (I tried once, but the people I was playing with were not very welcoming or patient with a newbie, so ...). My knowledge of the game is pretty much limited to what I've seen on Critical Role (which I highly recommend, btw), so ... without her, this story wouldn't happen.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Months have passed since Regan joined Cullen and his friends with their weekly game. It's Cullen's nameday and Regan & the others want to surprise him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unlike my normal writing, things in this chapter are bolded for emphasis, and the italics are reserved for events occurring in the game.
> 
> Thanks still go to Nerdy_Skirt for all her help with the game-stuff.

Regan twisted to avoid the hot baking sheet Bull pulled from the oven, carrying a basket of rolls out of the kitchen.  “Where’d you find tonight’s dessert, Bull?  It smells **amazing**.”  One of her favorite things about joining Cullen and the rest for their mostly weekly game had become acting as guinea pig for whatever recipe Bull had discovered and wanted to try out. 

“Dorian got it from someone he works with.”  Bull drizzled frosting over the cinnamon-y dessert.  “We thought it would be a nice treat.”  He left the dessert to cool and went about setting up the rest of the food.  “It isn’t every day Cullen actually admits he’s having a nameday.”

Dorian set out the good plates; the first time since Regan’s introduction to the game.  It wasn’t so much about making a good impression this time.  Cullen had been one of his best friends for years and rarely brought attention to his nameday.  “I know you two **usually** come together.  Did he say anything about you not riding with him today?” 

She had struggled for over a week trying to figure out how to get to Dorian’s place before Cullen to help get things ready.  Almost every plan she’d come up with had been rejected almost immediately for one reason or another.  Finally, she’d settled on a little white lie.  “I told him I needed to help Blackwall get ready for his anniversary date with Josie, and I’d just meet him here after.  He’s heading over after a meeting.”  A couple more trips to and from the kitchen and the food was laid out.  “It’s not a surprise party, right?  I mean, not exactly?”

“It’s a surprise, yes.  A surprise party?  No.”  Dorian did another quick check of the table and the buffet setup and nodded.  The gifts were in the other room, out of sight, so it was as good as it was going to get.  He was sure no one would notice if anything out of place; he just hated the thought of things not being just right.   “We’re having a little food, a few gifts, and our normal game.  There aren’t even any decorations.  Have you figured out how to get things moving in the right direction?”

A quick check of the suddenly vibrating phone pulled her attention to the door.  “Thanks, guys. I really appreciate it.”  Regan gave them each a quick peck on the cheek and headed for the door.  “Cass and the others are here.  All that’s left is Cullen.”  She pulled the door open and hugged everyone before shrugging.  “I have no clue yet, honestly. I’ll come up with something.”

“Sera is actually **on time**?  How did that happen?”

“She rode with me, of course.”  Varric strode in with a laugh.  “I wouldn’t let Buttercup’s lack of timing ruin all your planning, Sparkler.”  He disappeared into the hallway to drop the wrapped parcels he’d been carrying in the appropriate room with the others as the door clicked shut.  When he reappeared, he took his seat at the table.  “I still can’t believe I missed your debut in the game, Grace.  At least Curly had the decency not to let my beloved Corwin die while I was gone.”

“He’s here!”  Regan looked up from her phone and made a shushing sound.  “We’re not hiding, exactly, but ….”

“We know, Trev; we know.”  Bull rested a hand on her shoulder and turned her toward the door.  “Go let him in; everyone else, to your seats.  Let him think we’ve been waiting impatiently.”  While Bull thought Dorian’s plan was going to be a little difficult to pull off, it was better than jumping out from behind the wall and yelling ‘surprise’.

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Bull grumbled as the dice tumbled to a stop just short of the map.  If he didn’t know any better, he’d swear the dice were laughing at him.  “ _I run over and dump a healing potion into Cerastes’ mouth for …._ ”  He did some quick math and rolled his eyes.  “ _For a whopping ten points_.”

Dorian groaned softly, pressing his fingertips against his forehead.  “ _Cerastes looks around for Felix and sends him at the creature that knocked him out.  ‘We’ll sneak in the back way.  These bandits **can’t** be smart enough to put traps in the back way.  Whose bright idea was it to go through the **back** door again?_ ’.”

“ _I flick a piece of crumbled gargoyle at him.  ‘ **You’re** the one who stepped on the trigger!’_.”  Sera downed what was left in her mug and rolled.  “ _I take a shot at the same thing Felix is going after._ ”

“One more to go.”  Cullen pulled the second-to-last gargoyle from the map.  “Who’s next?”

Varric rolled his dice and grinned.  “ **Finally** ; 27, plus 4 fire damage.”  They’d been struggling for the past thirty minutes trying to deal with a cluster of gargoyles brought to life by a trapped stone that **no one** in the party, including the rogues, had managed to notice.  For some reason, he’d been rolling like garbage anytime it really mattered.

Cullen reached for the final mini to pull it off the board with relief.  He’d started to worry that he’d somehow managed to make the encounter too difficult, despite the fact that everyone had leveled up at least once.  “ _The last gargoyle falls to the ground in pieces, bits of something, you don’t really want to know what, crackling with flames._   What next?” 

“ _Before we go further, who needs healing?”_ Cassandra looked around the table, noting that just Dorian raised his hand.  “How bad?”  When he answered, she glanced at her sheet and sighed.  “ _Against her better judgment,_ _Aratur  tosses Cerastes a greater healing potion for…._ ”  She rolled the necessary dice and fought back a triumphant smile.  It wasn’t **much** , per se, but given the fact she was rolling D4s, it was decent.  “ _Fifteen points._ ”

“While they’re doing that, I’m going to **try** and check the door over there for traps.”  Regan dropped the dice on the table and frowned a little as she mathed.  “Twenty-four?”  She was nervous; the last two times she or Varric had checked for traps had **not** gone well, and while this was the highest roll between them for the night, it was entirely possible that it still wasn’t enough.

Cullen looked over his notes and nodded faintly.  He had to hide how happy he was that his girlfriend not only was alright with the hobby that had been so important to him for years, but also enjoyed participating!  The fact that she had picked things up so well still made him smile.  “ _The door does not appear to be trapped._ ”

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“ _So you all finally make it back to the mayor’s house, boy in tow and … **mostly** intact.  He’s certainly shaken up and bruised, with the tip of the ring finger of his left hand missing after his stay with the bandits_.”  Cullen glances over at Regan, only to notice that she was very pointedly looking at Dorian.  “What … who does what next?”

Dorian caught Regan’s eye and nodded.  They had been trying to find a way to bring the game around to a way to give Cullen his presents, but nothing had materialized, until now.  As far as Dorian could tell, the cake had been a success; Cullen had managed to eat two pieces of it rather quickly, while everyone else had gotten one, but that was the extent of celebration they’d managed thus far.  “Cerastes knocks on the mayor’s door, rather surprised there was no guards stationed.”

Regan scooted back from the table and hopped up, using the restroom excuse to leave the room momentarily, missing the exact moment the mayor answered the door.  She could hear someone … she was fairly certain it was Sera – Breeches … explaining in grand detail the harrowing adventure that … wait, they didn’t **really** face down owlbears to rescue the boy.  Leave it to the bard.  She gathered up the gifts, thankful that most of them brought their gifts in bags, and made it back to the doorway of the main room just in time to hear Cassandra’s Aratur chastising the bard for making things up.

“ _Corwin interrupts the two bickering women, pushing past them both to go up to the mayor. ‘Honorable Mayor, in addition to rescuing your son; terribly sorry about the finger, by the way – that happened well before we arrived.’  I turn and motion for Amnon to come on up_.”  Varric looks over to where Regan had been standing, surprised Cullen hadn’t noticed her there yet, and tilted his head toward the man of the hour.  “ _When he gets close, I turn back to the mayor.  ‘In addition to finding your son, we found some … trinkets we felt you might like._ ” 

Bull cleared his throat, watching Regan try to move as quietly as possible while carrying several bags and a couple boxes.  If he could have gotten up to help without calling Cullen’s attention, he would have.  As things stood, he just did his best to keep everyone’s attention on him.  “ _I carry two of the gem-encrusted statues we found in the bandit’s place – the ruby one and the larger emerald one - up to the mayor.  I tell him ‘Choose one,’ and hold them down for him to see._ ”

Cullen’s brow furrowed in confusion.  For as long as he’d been playing with the group, they’d **never** willingly parted with something worth **that** much when they didn’t have to.  The obvious confusion came through in his voice.  “ _The mayor looks at his son.  ‘I … ah … thank you?  Frederick, which, ah – which do you think?’.  Frederick shudders, obviously not really thrilled with the idea of a memorial from the bandits that had kidnapped him, but … he eventually points to the ruby encrusted statue.  The mayor turns back to you, Corwin, and you can tell he’s just very confused_.”

Regan finally reached Cullen and rested the presents at his side.  “Maybe this will clear things up a little.”  She leans over and brushes the barest of kisses against his lips.  “Happy nameday, dearheart.”

Cullen stared around the room; everyone was watching him expectantly.  Too many eyes to do what he **really** wanted to do, and certainly enough to bring a flush to his cheek.  “You … you all planned this?”  His eyes darted from Regan to the others and then back to Regan again.  “I … I don’t know what to say.”

“Say ‘Thank you’ and open the presents.”  Bull’s suggestion was laced with laughter.  The surprised look on Cullen’s face when he realized that a pile of gift bags were for him had been worth the effort.  “Start with the big, red bag.  That’s from us.”

Cullen went through the bags slowly, feeling just a little uncomfortable with the number of eyes on him.  There was a new coat from Dorian and Bull, complete with furred collar and a copy of a movie that he’d wanted to see but missed in the theater thanks to a number of double-shifts.  Varric’s gift was a collection of graphic novels, written by himself, of course, each one autographed ‘To Curly’.  Cassandra’s gift was absolutely practical – a new shirt and a gift card for a nice restaurant.  By the same token, Sera’s gift had been one of the boxes and was absolutely the most impractical thing she could think of: two packs of edible under-garments – his and hers, for **later** , she’d said while grinning at Regan. 

And then he was down to Regan’s.  Hers was the second box, wrapped neatly in red and gold paper. 

“Open the box first, **then** read the card,” she instructed.

He barely caught the blush rushing to her cheeks, though he thought he saw it deepen when their eyes met and he nodded.  Carefully peeling the paper back, he found an ornate wooden box, slightly larger than the box he kept his dice in.  Across the top, he could see each letter of his name, framed on either side by a roaring lion’s head.  Inside was a set of brand new dice: marbled scarlet with gold numbering.  The twenty-sided die had a tiny lion’s head in place of the twenty.  “Regan, this is … this is amazing.  Where did you find this?”

She smiled awkwardly, ducking behind Bull until she regained her composure.  “I … had it made?  Blackwall carved everything after I supplied the box and dice.”  She reached over and gently tapped the card.  “Don’t … don’t forget the card.”

Cullen nodded, noticing the nervous way she bit her lip after speaking.  He flipped open the envelope and pulled out the card.  The front was fairly non-descript – a funny comic about getting older, and the pre-printed message inside was much the same.  However, there was something else written in what was most certainly her handwriting, promising something of a far more personal nature when they were alone again.  He tried to speak, but just the thought of what she wrote had his mind misfiring.  It took several tries before he could finally say anything.  “I … I don’t know what to say, other than thank you; all of you.” 

“Dorian, would it be alright with you and Bull if Cullen gave me a ride home?  I took a cab to get here and ….”  Regan shuffled the remnants of wrapping paper that had somehow drifted in front of her, trying not to look too uncomfortable with the fact that she was pretty certain everyone at the table had an idea of what the card said. 

The couple shared a knowing smile and nodded.  “Go on.  We’ll take care of cleaning up.”  Bull looked over at Cullen and made a shoo-ing motion with his hands.  “Go on, take her home, Cullen.  And happy nameday.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: Felix is Cerestes' familiar who happens to be a pseudo-dragon


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They've been at this more than a year now and Cullen has never enjoyed gaming as much. Their most recent story arc is reaching its end, and he's incredibly nervous about the outcome. Never has he tried running an arc that was this ... personal.

“You do realize Dorian’s going to be hurt that you asked **me** for help with this and not him, right?”  Bull jogged alongside Cullen around the track in the nearby park in the early morning's sunlight.  They’d been running partners for a couple years now – almost since Dorian had introduced them.  Neither had been successful yet in getting Dorian to come running with them, but for once it came in handy.

Cullen sighed, slowing to barely a trot before stopping altogether, stooping over a little, hands on his knees. His t-shirt was drenched with sweat, hair flopping down over his eyebrows, nearly reaching his eyes thanks to sweat as well.  “I know.”  He hated hiding things from his best friend, and asking Bull to keep something hidden from **his** husband, but it was one time it seemed necessary.  “But you know he’d never have been able to keep the secret for this long.” 

Bull came to a stop next to him, laughing. As much as he loved his husband, he knew Cullen was right.  It wasn’t that Dorian was **bad** at keeping secrets, exactly.  It was more that Dorian was really happy that Cullen had found someone he cared about so much, and that seemed to care about him in return.  And he would go overboard; he wouldn’t be able to help himself.  “Yeah, I know.”  He pulled a bandana from his back pocket and wiped the sweat from his face.  “As far as he, or anyone else, is concerned, it’ll be another normal game night.”

“I appreciate it.” Cullen raked his fingers through his hair, trying to get it out of his face.  There was one wavy bit that absolutely refused to cooperate.  “I think Cassandra knows something is going on.”  He checked his watch; still plenty of time before he had to be at work.  “Up for another couple laps?”

 *****          *****           *****           *****           *****           *****           *****           *****           *****          

“What is everybody doing?” Cullen glanced around the table before turning his attention back to something behind the screen.  “We know Antony is, rather futilely, slamming his shoulder into the door that suddenly slammed shut; but what about the rest of you?”

“ _I plop myself down in one corner and start scribbling …_.  Wait a second!  When did you get glasses?”  Sera had been trying to figure out what was different about Cullen all evening, and it finally just hit her.  In all the time that she’d been gaming with the group, she’d **never** seen him wearing glasses.

Cullen looked up from the board separating him from the rest of the table. “Ah, I … **someone** misplaced my contacts.”  He caught a hint of a smile from Regan before shrugging.  “Apparently this person feels I look more … intelligent while wearing them, and I didn’t have the heart to argue with her.”  He looked over at the pile of miniatures he had collected for the current adventure and bit back a smile.  He just had to get things moving again.  “So, Breeches is just … sitting there, writing or drawing something?”

“Well, whoever they were, remind me to thank them. They were absolutely correct.”  Dorian rested his forearms on the table and took a critical look at his best friend’s new accessory.  “How long have you had those?  Why do I not remember you ever wearing those before?”

Cullen rolled his eyes. “Five years.”  He did his best to keep from glaring at everyone watching him.  Why they were so fascinated by his wearing glasses, he didn’t know.  “I honestly prefer contacts; that way I don’t have to worry about them falling off when chasing someone.”  There was a quick breath to refocus before he glanced at the pad of paper next to him.  “Sera, you said Breeches was essentially sitting down drawing or writing, correct?  What is everyone else doing?”

“Don’t change the subject, Curly.” Varric strolled in from the kitchen with a bottle of ale and hopped back into his seat.  “You show up with new eyewear and you **don’t** expect us to comment?”  He took a swig from the bottle and scribbled a note to himself. 

Regan could make out a few words as Varric’s pen flew across the paper; something about a new hero – a curly-haired blond with wire-rimmed glasses, handsome and brave. “Come on, guys.  They’re just glasses.”  She reached over and gave Cullen’s hand a squeeze.  “And I didn’t **lose** the contacts on purpose.  They’re just … misplaced.”  There was a brief pause when she caught Dorian’s eye and winked, then tried to help Cullen regain control.  “ _Faelor starts checking the room for a secret switch or lever or something to try and open that stupid door. **‘Antony, stop that. You’ll just hurt yourself.** ’_.”

“ _He turns to Faelor and shrugs. **‘We need to get out of here and find that chest**.’  He looks worried, and goes back to trying to shoulder the door open._ ”  A look of relief passed over Cullen’s face; at least **someone** was trying to get back to the game.  Now, he just had to get the rest of them to focus.  He was nervous enough as it was.  “OK; roll to search the room.  So, we know what Antony, Faelor, and Breeches are doing.  Who else is doing something?”

“I think you’re right in not wearing them at work.” Cassandra checked her watch; they’d been talking about Cullen’s glasses for what felt like the better part of a half-hour instead of playing.  With as late as these games tended to run, that was time poorly spent in her opinion, but she couldn’t help but throw her two cents in.  “Though maybe a lighter frame would suit your face better?”

It was all Cullen could do to keep from banging his head against the table. As it was, he couldn’t stop a frustrated sigh from escaping.  “Maker’s breath!”  What did he have to do?  He looked over at Bull and sighed.  “Go ahead; make a comment.  Everyone else has had a turn.”

Bull just shook his head and laughed. “Nah.  I’m good.”  He looked at the board and frowned.  “ _I go over and give Antony a hand with that door.”_ Cullen wearing glasses wasn’t **that** much of a surprise.  He’d noticed a glasses case on a shelf at Cullen’s apartment one evening when he and Dorian had come over for dinner.  “ _It’s kind of obvious that Amnon is really not happy about being stuck in this room. ‘Cerastes, next time Corwin or Faelor tell you not to touch something, maybe listen?_ ’.”

Dorian waved his hand dismissively, easily and almost immediately dropping back into the voice he’d been using for his necromancer. “ _I make a show of ignoring Amnon and busy myself checking the bodies of the creatures that attacked us. I have enough vials to collect quite a bit of blood and … other liquids and I want to see if there are any other usable bits._ ”

Finally. Cullen checked the notes behind his screen.  “Roll an investigation check.”  Now, he just had to get them out of this room and to the room with the chest.  Maker’s breath; why was he so nervous?

*****    *****    *****    *****    *****    *****    *****    *****    *****    *****    *****    *****    *****   

“ _The group finally makes it to the door to what you can only assume is the last room in the corridor. It’s a plain-looking wooden door, though the décor around the lock seems a bit more ornate than previous doors_.”  Cullen tried not to fidget.  Things were finally progressing and he was getting more nervous.  A part of him wondered if he shouldn’t just wait until later.  But he really didn’t want to wait.  “ _Antony takes a step toward the door._ ”

Regan reached out to grab at Cullen’s arm before covering her face with her other hand and laughing. “Sorry.  Meant to say that _I … Faelor … reaches out to grab Antony. ‘ **Don’t touch anything.  We need to check for traps first.** ’_.  _And … I tell Corwin to start checking for traps. I do the same, after asking Amnon to keep people away from that door._ ”  She rolled the necessary die for her search and sighed.  “At least it isn’t a nat 1.  Please tell me you did better, Varric?”

Varric looked over at his die again and shrugged. “Was there ever any doubt?  Twenty-seven.”

Cullen let out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding and nodded. “The door **is** trapped.”  He waited for Varric to roll to disarm the trap then had Antony guide the group into the room.  “There isn’t much in this room.  You see a table against the far wall, covered with glass bottles and wooden boxes.  You can tell most of the bottles that are visible have some sort of liquid in them.  The other walls are fairly bare – a few candles on stands, a couple tapestries that look very ratty … and a wooden chest.  _After only taking a few steps into the room, Antony stops and looks back at Faelor and Corwin. ‘ **Should we check the room?’**_.”

Cassandra nodded, glancing around the table. “Everyone ok, health-wise?  Anyone need healing?”  She knew she wouldn’t be much use searching the room; every investigation attempt she’d made this campaign had resulted in extremely low rolls.  “It’s about the only helpful thing I can do right now.”

Regan and Varric made their investigation rolls while Cassandra’s cleric took care of healing the others, both rolling high enough to feel confident about their results.

“Twenty-eight.”

“Natural Twenty!” Regan yelped with glee.  It’d been a while since she’d managed to hit such a good role.  “So that makes … thirty-two.”

“ _After scouring the room, you both feel certain that the room, itself, is trap free. Faelor, you even manages to find a hidden cache of gold tucked behind the chest._ ”  Cullen did his best to turn her attention to the chest in the room, with seemingly little luck.  It took several minutes and a few more not-so-subtle hints before anyone actually made an attempt to open it.

“I’m … going to check that chest for traps.” Varric cracked his knuckles and made a show of wiggling his fingers in a manner that Regan couldn’t help but picture his character in motion as well.  The die rolled and he pursed his lips.  “Fifteen.”  He was **not** confident in his roll this go ‘round.  Cullen’s response that the chest didn’t **seem** to be trapped did nothing to lessen his concern and it showed in the hesitant way he rolled to unlock the chest.  “Well, that’s better at least – twenty-two.”

Cullen pursed his lips and scanned the notes he kept behind the screen. Why had Varric decided to open the chest?  Why had he rolled so poorly when checking for traps?  He supposed he could always disregard the roll and pretend that the fifteen was high enough to detect the traps, but he knew **someone** at the table would be able to see through him and call him out.  “ _You hear something click inside the lock, followed by a loud bang near the door you came in.  When you turn around, you see a creature with the body of a large man – think Bull’s size, with the head of a druffalo_.  I need everyone to tell me where they are, and roll for initiative.”

*****    *****    *****    *****    *****    *****    *****    *****    *****    *****    *****    *****    *****   

“ _I charge at the thing, doing my damnedest to make it look at me, not Antony. ‘ **You keep your hooves away from him!** ’  And, I attack._”  Regan tossed her dice across the table.  “A … twenty-three and a … ugh, an eighteen.”

A quick nod and the sound of dice rolling behind the screen were her only answers for a moment while he added up the totals. “ _The minotaur roars in frustration when Faelor’s first dagger slices its arm, dragging its attention away from the dazed fighter. A beefy hand swings around and knocks the half-elf away before the second can make contact.  Antony regains his senses just in time to watch in horror as she goes flying_.”  Cullen moved Regan’s figure to lean on the miniature of the chest.  “ _You, Regan, take fifteen points of damage, and come to rest prone next to the chest_.” 

“Oh-kay. I’m not unconscious, but I’m **really** close.  Let’s just say _I’m knocked **very** loopy, leaning on the chest_.”  Regan marked off the number on her sheet and scribbled down a single digit in its place.  One more hit and she was out.

He tosses s few dice behind the screen. “ _Antony hits with a twenty-two, and does twelve points of damage before running in Faelor’s direction to check on her._ ”  He checked the initiative order and looks at Cassandra.  “Aratur’s up.”

“Twenty-eight.”

“Roll for damage.”

Cassandra let the dice fall from her hand and did some quick _math in her head. “Thirty-five.”_

_Cullen checked the creature’s stats and grinned. “Good job.  Your war axe comes down with enough force to slice through the creature’s skull.  It lets out a choked off scream and drops to the floor_.”

“ _I see Antony’s made it over to check on Faelor, so I’ll head over to Cerastes and Amnon to make sure they’re OK_.”  Cassandra looked over at Sera and Varric, “ _I am more than somewhat surprised that Corwin and Breeches were able to avoid taking too much damage_.” 

“Breeches, anyway,” Varric muttered, looking at his character sheet. “I’m much lower than it actually looks.”

Sera laughed. “I’ll take that as a hint, Varric _. Breeches trots over to the cranky gnome to see what she can do to help him._ ”

Cullen looks around the table and sighs softly, ducking behind the screen for a moment. There would never be a better time, if he was going to have all his planning be worth it.  He let the others discuss what they were doing and have faint conversations and looked over at Regan.  “I … _Antony gives Faelor a healing potion, restoring … thirty hit points. He waits until she’s up on her feet before saying anything.  ‘ **Are you OK?’**_.”  Maker help him; how could he get her to be the one to open the chest?

Regan grinned at Cullen and nodded. “ _Faelor gives him a quick kiss on the cheek. ‘ **Thanks, Antony. I needed that**.’  I kick at the chest that started this whole ordeal.  ‘Might as well see what was so important they had to set that trap.’  And I reach down to actually open the stupid chest._ ”

Cullen nodded, ducking behind the screen one more time. “ _Antony reaches out to stop you, his hand landing on your arm just before you lift the lid of the chest. ‘ **Um, Faelor; before … before you open that … thing, I ….**_ ”  It was strange.  He’d introduced Antony into this quest-line to act as the guide; he hadn’t planned on the character being anything more than an extra sword for some more complicated battles and a way to keep the quest on track.  But, much like his relationship with Regan, a relationship between the characters took him by surprise.  “ _He clears his throat, looking away for a second before trying again._ ‘ ** _I … you didn’t have to risk your neck to distract him, but thank you._** ’

‘ ** _Of course I did, Antony. I wouldn’t -_**.’

“ _He cuts her off swiftly, grabbing her face in his hands and kissing her before taking a step back. ‘ **No, you didn’t, but … I’m glad you did. Just … be careful; I don’t know what I’d do if ….** ’  He lets his words drop off and takes a step back, waiting to see what she does_.”

Regan coughed softly, trying to ignore the surprised tittering suddenly coming from the rest of the table. She hadn’t been expecting something like **that**.  “ _Faelor is … well, she’s pretty much stunned_.  _And blushing.  A lot_.”  She cleared her throat and caught Cullen’s eye briefly, noticing that there was a hint of pink coloring his cheeks as well. 

Bull cleared his throat before she could do anything else. “ _I walk over to the pair of them; well, I limp over, anyway. ‘ **Save it for later, you two. We have a gem to find.** ’  I point toward the chest, now that Corwin’s managed to spring what I can only hope is the only trap on the stupid thing._”

Regan nodded, looking back toward Cullen. “ _Right; I open the chest, carefully, after looking over to make sure Antony is nearby. I’m trying to ignore the fact that my cheeks and ears are burning up and can only hope he’s similarly afflicted._ ” 

“I … um, I’ll be right back; I need … to get something from my bag.” Cullen handed Bull several slips of paper before shoving back from the table.  “Here’s what you find.”  He could feel her eyes follow him until Bull started reading off the list of items, drawing everyone’s attention as they divvied out the spoils. 

“ ‘ ** _Let’s see. There’s five-hundred gold, four-hundred silver._** ’.”

Cullen’s hand closed on the small wooden box he’d tucked into a zippered pouch inside his backpack and exhaled.

“ ‘ ** _Corwin, I think this is right up your alley – a rare elven short bow._** ’.”

He continued miming looking through his bag, just in case she was still watching him. He just had to wait a little longer.

“ ‘ ** _Ugh; nothing I can really use, but Cerastes, this looks like something you’d toy around with._** _’. I throw the amulet over to him, carefully since I know he can’t catch worth a darn._   _‘ **There’s the gem we were sent to find. Here, Faelor; you’re less likely to lose it than I am.** **And … a small wooden box with an inscription in … Elvish.** ’  I know I can’t read it, so I look for someone who can._”

Regan reaches for the slip of paper. “ _Faelor can read Elvish, so I move closer to the chest to see what Amnon is looking at. I study the script, trying to remember all those_ conversational elvish _classes I’d been forced to take. ‘ **Will you ma … what is this word again?  Make?  No; march?  No, not that either.  Marry -…?  Yes'; marry.  Will you marry -** ’._”

Cullen took a deep breath and moved quickly, and surprisingly quietly, to Regan’s side, dropping to one knee as she read the slip of paper. He made a mental note to thank Bull for keeping her attention so thoroughly, since she didn’t even notice his presence until Bull pointed him out.  A shaky hand held the small wooden box up as she turned to look at him, wide-eyed.  “Regan, I ….”  A cough was needed to clear his throat; it wouldn’t do to sound like a nervous nug.  “Regan, I … I never expected to find someone who loved me despite my faults and flaws.  I have treasured every moment we’ve spent together, even the fights and arguments.  I don’t want to imagine my life without you in it, and honestly, my sisters would never forgive me if I didn’t ask soon.  Will you, Regan Trevelyan, do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

Dorian stared a moment, then whipped his head around to glare at Bull. “You **knew** ,” he hissed, looking hurt.  “You **knew** and you didn’t tell me!”  Bull's apologetic shrug did little to ease the sting.

The lid was lifted slowly, and there was suddenly a beautiful silver ring, a pair of hands holding a small heart-shaped amethyst. There was a moment’s pause where she couldn’t speak; could barely even think.  Had she heard correctly?  This wasn’t his character’s action, right?  No, he wasn’t in his official DM’ing chair.  He was in front of her, on one knee, just watching her, holding that small box out to her.  The chattering around them faded until it was simply white noise.  All that existed was Cullen.  “I … Maker’s wooly slippers, yes; I accept.” 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I want to thank Nerdy_Skirt for her help with all the D&D parts. I have never played Dungeons & Dragons (I tried once, but the people I was playing with were not very welcoming or patient with a newbie, so ...). My knowledge of the game is pretty much limited to what I've seen on Critical Role, so ... without her, this story wouldn't happen.


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